DIVINE COMMAND THEORY
An action is right if God commands it. God has infinite wisdom and goodness and knows what's good for humans.
The anthropological argument for moral norms accepts that the divine command theory makes perfect sense as a didactic tool to instill compliance in ancient groups. Early humans learned moral norms through fear and reward.
The fear was the punishment, the reward was the recognition of moral fortitude.
Augustine's heteronomous moral system: (heteronomy means that refers to action that is influenced by a force outside the individual). The divine command theory is the pursuit of the supreme good, which delivers human happiness. Being moral is the result of our love for God. For Augustine we do what's good not for good's sake, but for God's sake.
Note: Augustine, without knowing it, is justifying the moral argument of selection This is undoubtedly the way moral norms happened throughout social selection. It's much more effective to justify the good with God's command than with the good itself.
Moral norms had to be instilled and compelled by social habit.
Don Scotus's natural law:
Scotus argues that natural law contains only what is evidently true. God could not, would not, make what's moral not moral. This means that the commands of natural law do not depend on God's will. Scotus is saying that God first creates the moral order and then everything else follows, even God's own commands.
Thomas Aquinas's natural law: This is a development towards self-agency. Aquinas natural law agrees with Scotus'.
Something is moral if it helps the purpose of human existence, and so human nature can determine what is moral.
